Semicentennial

 

My 50th birthday fell on Election Day this year. I took my last birthday bike ride with Caroline through the Battle Road, which was cut short by a flat tire.

That was an omen for the disappointing national election results

And then the next day I found a deer tick embedded in my arm. It wasn't engorged and I trust that the single-dose doxycycline treatment eliminated any Lyme bacteria trying to infect me.

The weekend after my birthday I flew to DC to see my sisters. At Claire's I attended my first ever high school football game. Claire's family do the marching band and that is Brooke on the front right tooting her saxophone. In the South marching bands are a big thing. 

The big event with Katy was running a 10K road race across the Annapolis Bay Bridge

We coordinated with Jon, Heather H, and Bevil to join us 

Katy, Bevil, Jon, and I were all running in the 50-54 age bracket for the first time. Katy, Heather H, and I ran as a group and finished in 58:09. For me that was #114 in my age bracket, #35 for Katy, #80 for Heather H. Bevil and Jon ran much faster, with Jon's 47:29 earning age place #15 and Bevil's blistering 45:56 earning #10. 

On my way back to Claire's place, I visited a few DC NPS sites, such as the Carter G. Woodson home

Mary McLeod Bethune Council House

and Robert E. Lee's family estate, now Arlington National Cemetery

View from the top of the cemetery across the Potomac to the Lincoln Memorial

A 2nd weekend indulgence was a guys trip up to Montreal to see the Canadiens play

After the game we ended up at the Peele Pub, home of the 3.5L pitcher. I had been to this same bar 30 years ago back in 1994 while on Spring Break from William & Mary. 

A classic poutine with fries, cheese curds, and gravy

Back home Erin celebrated her sweet 16 a few days late because on her actual birthday she was in NY ahead of the XC regionals race

At the RMV she received her driving learner's permit

Next April will be the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord. As preparation for the semiquincentennial celebration, our town erected a giant countdown calendar.

Caroline's chamber orchestra was invited to set the calendar one morning

For Thanksgiving Grandma Joan and Grampa Ed visited. The girls were sort of helpful in the kitchen.

Our activities included the usual jigsaw puzzles

and our family dominoes game, crowsfoot. We learned this from one of my cousins on the Ehmann side and apparently it is more commonly called chickenfoot. 

Erin's XC team hosted a turkey trot 5K on their hilly home course

I was dying at the end, but my 27:51 team was a new PR, and only 8 min slower than Erin's best time

Not much meat on the bones of the sparrow

Tessie moved up to the 11-12 year-old swim division. She's in lane 2 and check out the solid flip turn 

Cross Country '24

 
The most photogenic of Erin's 3 running seasons is without a doubt cross country. Not only is fall in New England a great time to be outdoors, but the team has dedicated photographers who provided most of the shots for this post! 

Last year Erin was one of 3 freshwomen who made the varsity team of 7 runners, which finished the 2023 season #7 in the state. Two seniors graduated but 2 freshwomen joined the 2024 varsity squad. In the first race of the season, one of the freshwomen finished #1 for the team, and she remained the #1 runner all season.

The standard XC distance is 5K or 3.1 miles and is scored by each of the top 5 finishers earning a point for their ordinal position. Lowest total wins. If one team finishes 1 through 5 and the other team 6 through 10, then the overall score is 1+2+3+4+5 = 15 to 6+7+8+9+10 = 45. At the 1st league meet of the season the score was Lex 15 - Wakefield 45.

In the league meets, a familiar pattern developed. Lexington's pack of runners would go out with the other team's best runner, stay together for the first 2 miles, and then for the last mile the pack would fragment, with Lexington finishing its top 6 vs 1 for the other team.

They traveled to Rhode Island for the Ocean State Invitational meet against teams from New England 

and even California - that's Long Beach Poly on the right

The team got out to a slow start and couldn't effectively move up in the crowded field

but the lesson would help them in large races later in the season

 They finished 7th overall at Ocean State and 5th of the Massachusetts teams 

Erin reached a personal best of 19:56 on the hilly Lexington home course

in this race against Winchester, who were undefeated in the league until they faced Lexington. You can see the Winchester team in black still running behind Lexington's 7 girls who already finished.

In Boston they ran at historic Franklin Park in a meet with mostly small schools and the team finished #1 of 23 teams

Against weaker teams in the league sometimes the top racers were told to take it easy

As the postseason approached, I wondered if any thoroughbred products would help Erin

but the weather was perfect for the Middlesex League Championship race

Erin finished #5 overall out of 70 runners, earning All-Conference honors, and set a new PR of 18:31 for 5K

Lexington placed its scoring 5 in the top 10 and convincingly finished #1 of the 12 teams

The first state-wide meet is separated in divisions based on school sizes and was held out in western Mass at a ski mountain

Erin finished #19, just behind her friend Callie. The team finished #2, only a few points away from the top, and qualified for the All-State meet.

Going into the meet there were 6 teams on paper who could win All-States. Lexington had a great day and finished #2, just 4 points from #1. 

Finishing #2 allowed the team to advance to the Nike Cross Country Northeast Regional race in New York

The regional race contained teams from New England, NJ, and PA. The girls were able to get off from school on Friday in order to walk the course.

Heather drove down at night into a snowstorm

The girls raced well on the frozen course

and finished 6th, the highest ever for a Lexington team at the Nike Regionals

With the entire top 7 team returning next year, they will look to improve on their final state standings. And now for Erin it's on to the indoor season.